


Scandal in the Making

by Sinfully_Salty



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Calem's nonbinary it's just easier to write them with he/him pronouns, Dark, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Emotional Baggage, Everything in Galar is the same Calem just replaced Victor, For real I tried to write them with they/them pronouns and even my nonbinary ass couldn't handle it, Forgive Me, Genderqueer Character, He/Him Pronouns For Calem (Pokemon), I'm Going to Hell, Implied/Referenced Abuse, It's not misgendering they genuinely don't give a fuck about gender, M/M, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Or at least they will once I get to the second chapter, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other characters will still refer to them as they/them it's just in the writing, Please Kill Me, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Some Humor, Tags Contain Spoilers, Victor and Gloria just kind of aren't involved in this story sorry, We're all going to HELL, XY Protagonist Serena/Rival Calem, You Have Been Warned, get ready, not enough, nothing major just some swapping of character roles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:29:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29171904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinfully_Salty/pseuds/Sinfully_Salty
Summary: Sometimes, Calem just wishes the past would stay in the fucking past and let him live his perfectly compartmentalized life in the present.This is one of those times.AU Where (rival) Calem becomes moves out and becomes Galar's Champion after the events of X and Y.
Kudos: 3





	Scandal in the Making

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy y’all, just taking a break from obsessively writing and rewriting my BoTW fic (Yeah that’s still going on, dw new chapters will be out soon) and writing something that came to me the other night. I promise the fic isn’t in second-person, just the opening.  
> The full fic is in FIRST person, everyone’s FAVORITE TENSE.   
> Just kidding! I’m bad but I’m not a monster.  
> Well, not a total monster, anyways.

_ Wake up, Calem. _

_ Wake up you lazy sack of shit. _

_ WAKE THE FUCK UP. _

_ The alarm woke you up, today. You know what that means? That means you overslept again. You’re supposed to wake up BEFORE the alarm goes off. You should be able to do that by now. _

_ Take your medication. Check the bottles. Your antianxiety and antidepressants will be good on refills for the next two months, at least. Move the bottles to the left of your lamp so you don’t forget you already took your pills. They’re next to the clock, now. _

_ Oh, that’s right, the clock. Reset your alarm. You know it’s to go off at the same time it is every day, but check it anyways, just to be sure. _

_ 4:31 AM. Not terrible. A bit later than you’d have liked to wake up, but it’ll do. As long as you’re up before things get noisy. You know how much you hate that part of the morning. _

_ Get a move on, now. You don’t want to get lost in your own head for half an hour and spoil your morning like you did last week. You’d have had time for that if you’d just woken up on time. _

_ Prep your shower. Don’t forget to check and clean the drain, even if you did it last night in advance. It never hurts to be careful. Clean the rim of the tub, too. Just in case. That porcelain needs to be smooth to the touch. What’s the harm in being properly prepared? _

_ Check your R-Phone. What time is it? Only 4:42, good. Is it charged? 82%. You must have unplugged it in your sleep again. Better set it to charge while you get on with the rest of your morning. After all, you’ve got enough clocks that it won’t be an issue. _

_ As long as you’re in the bathroom, brush your teeth. Be sure to double-check your molars. They had some slight discoloration, yesterday. Even if Sonia told you it’s nothing to worry about, you should still schedule an appointment with your dentist ASAP. You can’t afford to lose a tooth, not now. Maybe when you were younger, but not now. _

_ Rinse, spit. _

_ Get a cap of mouthwash. Fill it slightly above the line. You don’t want to accidentally use too little. Gargle. _

_ Spit, rinse, and spit again. _

_ Get another cap of mouthwash, again, filled slightly above the line. Gargle again. _

_ Rinse and spit for the last time. Now dry your teeth on the designated cloth. Check them once more. _

_ Couldn’t hurt to just do a quick once-over with the toothbrush again. What’s the harm in making sure your teeth are clean? _

_ After all, tooth decay is a real bitch. _

_ Alright, sure, your tongue stings a bit from the mouthwash and the gum tissue above your upper right incisor is bleeding a bit, but it feels  _ clean  _ and that’s what matters. _

_ Feeling clean is a  _ good _ thing. _

_ Now shave. Against the grain, even though it’s supposedly bad for your skin. At least, you think that’s what that article you scrolled by a few years back said. Who cares? It’s closer this way. You like that. _

_ You didn’t nick yourself today. That’s good. No need to put on one of those ugly little round bandage-things. You hate any reminder of your innate ‘masculinity.’ Your face is too androgynous for that gendered bullshit. You like it that way, right? It makes you look younger. _

_ Wash your face. Warm water first, then cold. Apply some lotion. Gently rub it in. We don’t want wrinkles now, do we? _

_ Dry your face and check your phone. _

_ It’s 4:58. You’re right on time. Now go back to your room and plug it in. _

_ Check your bag, while you’re at it. Do it quietly. You don’t want to wake up your Corviknight before 6. He’s grumpy when the sun isn’t up. _

_ Not quite sure why you just called him ‘your Corviknight’ when he’s got a perfectly good name (it’s Crow, because you’re unoriginal and he hated ‘Sir Raventon the Third, Esq.’ ...Still have him registered under that nickname, though. It’s cute.) that still serves the expository purpose of hinting at what pokemon he is for your opponents so they aren’t completely caught off-guard by a giant armored bird named ‘Mrs. Piffles.’ _

_ That’s irrelevant, though, and thoughts like that will only slow you down. Everything’s in place, so get your clothes and towels. Make sure the socks are there. Good. _

_ It’s 4:59. Now it’s 5:00. Hurry up. _

_ Set the water temperature and place your post-shower supplies in every place you need them. Assorted lotions/skin creams, hair-care products, brushes, perfumes, cosmetics (You like to look a little pretty.), etc. Double-check everything to be sure nothing’s missing. Don’t forget to place the body/floor towel on the hook next to the shower. _

_ Undress yourself. First your shirt. Your skin is finally starting to clear up from that chemical burn you got trying that stupid hair-removal product. Even Felicity (Your Blissey, obviously. Feeling extra-expositional today, huh?) couldn’t do much about the breakouts and scarring. _

_ You shouldn’t linger on thoughts of how you permanently damaged your skin trying to get rid of a little body hair. Besides, you shave and wax everything now. _

_ There’s no sense reliving the past. Some skin-damage is the least of your worries when you-wait, shit, shower. Take off your pants. Socks, too. _

_ Now the underwear. Don’t fixate on your own junk, perv. _

_ Hop in the shower. We don’t have all day. _

_ Adjust that temperature a bit. The water’s a little cold-No, that’s too hot! Definitely too hot! Back down-no, up-no, down-up-down-just a little… Perfect. The pressure’s just right, too. _

_ First thing’s first. Legs and feet. Rinse, bodywash, lather, rinse again. Make sure to scrape off that dead skin with your body scrub. Let’s see… Your leg hair is practically non-existent. You won’t need to shave for another day, at least. Maybe we can finally get it permanently removed. You’re the champion, after all. Arceus knows you’ve got the funds. _

_ Let’s put that on the agenda for today. Schedule a hair-removal appointment for this Tuesday. Schedule a hair-removal appointment for this Tuesday. Schedule a hair… _

_ Oh, looks like we got our upper-body, too. Now just wash our, uh… you know. _

_ Fuck it, you’re not a prude and you’re not a child anymore. It’s your dick. Soap up and rinse your damn dick. Geez… Don’t need to do anything with the hair down there, either. Ditto for your underarms. You waxed yesterday, remember? Hurt like hell (as always) but you do like being smooth. Smooth is good. Smooth is  _ clean _. _

_ Shampoo your hair. Lather. Rinse. Shampoo and lather again. Massage your scalp. Really get in there. Damn that feels good… _

_ Not THAT good. Mew above, the fucker never lets you get a break, does it? Down boy, we don’t have time to deal with you right now. Maybe you can get in a quick tug-session after the battle or find a quick hooku-no, no time for thinking about that. We’re cleaning right now, remember? _

_ Alright, rinse your hair and condition. Remember to use the color-protecting conditioner you just got. Don’t want hair damage  _ and _ skin damage, now. _

_ Last but definitely not least, let’s get that pretty little mug of yours. First a quick wash with the ‘beauty bar’ or whatever the fuck was on the label for your face-soap, then go over with your acne scrub. You haven’t had a facial breakout since you were 17, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe. Now rinse. _

_ Turn off the water. Funny how the faucets only squeak when you reverse them. _

_ Alright, feeling good, feeling clean, feeling fresh, fun, flirty, and fancy-free. _

_ Grab your towel. Dry off like usual. Face, arms, torso, legs, nethers. Now place it over the shower mat. It’s redundant, but you like your shower mat to look clean and new, not soggy and used. An old habit from your dad’s side, you’ve been told. _

_ Alright, before we step out, let’s take care of that hair. Shake out whatever water you can, grab your towel, flip your hair down and over, wrap it up. A nice, practised motion. Now adjust your makeshift headdress so you can apply your post-shower lotion. Your skin should feel fresh and young, not old and dry. You’re only 20. _

_ Let’s see, now for the rest of the body. Lotion, check. Deodorant, check. It’s faint, but sweet. Two spritzes of Aromatisse of Plumeria. Marnie got that for you after you let her take over as Champion while you were busy helping Peony and Sonia in the Crown Tundra. That must have been over a year ago… _

_ Clothes. Just the usual look, today, since you’ve got a challenger in from Hoenn. Thank the lake spirits we were finally allowed to modify our uniform. Put on those near-white pink compression shorts, left leg then right. Your compression-shorts are next, then your institutional-white short-shorts with your matching torn top. Now we just throw our old Lovely-Nightmare parka thrown over it. _

_ It goes well with the pink hair. At least,  _ I  _ think it does. Let’s wrap it back up in the towel, for now. _

_ Now on to the makeup… Something light and natural. You barely need any concealer these days, and applying foundation is practically second-nature. Just a light touch of the stuff for today. A little bronzor, too, for a gentle contour. Lookin’ good. Kind of reminds us of our home-region. _

_ Our home-region… It’s been a while. Wonder how Serena’s doing…  _

_ Focus. You’re on a time-limit, here. Back to your makeup. Finish off your base. _

_ Some faint blush and eyeshadow, too, while you’re at it. Maybe make that eyeshadow just a  _ touch _ darker over the lid. Perfect. Just A thin cat-eye for today, don’t want to go for anything dramatic. Keep it nice and pseudo-natural. _

_ Of course, a little mascara won’t hurt. _

_ Now for the lips. Your favorite part. Today’s color is going to be… a light shade of cherubi-pink. The way it makes our lips pop is nice, plus it goes with the hair. _

_ Don’t forget your two spritzes of setting-spray. Can’t go getting anything smudged now, can we? _

_ Let’s take our hair out of that towel. It should be dry enough, by now. _

_ Spritz some product onto those medium, wavy locks and check the time. Oh, that’s right, you set your phone to charge. Guess you’ll have to check the clock in the kitchen. _

_ It’s 5:55. Make a wish. No, not that wish, that wish would have too many moral ramifications. Not that one, either. That one’s too… horny. Nope, can’t wish for that, it makes a problematic group look like they were right all along about it just going awa-oh, 5:56.  _

_ Well, there’s always tomorrow. _

_ Crow will be up soon, better cook something up. _

_ Turn on the stove. Low, you’re just warming it up. Now put the skillet over the burner and let it warm while you get some butter. _

_ Let’s see, last we checked, it was just above the eggs. Yep, there it is. Might as well grab some eggs, too, while you’re at it. Let’s see… One, two, three… 12 eggs. That should be enough for the overgrown featherduster. Sprinkle in some miltank cheese, a little faux-hamburger (everyone on the team agreed to go vegetarian (For the most part. Slowpoke tails and Clauncher claws are generally harvested  _ after _ they fall off, after all.) after watching that ‘Death on a Factory Daycare’ documentary last year) and voila. A massive omelette fit for a grouchy Corviknight. _

_ Let’s just check the time real quick--6:07, Crow should be up by now--and grab our phone. No time for breakfast right now, you’ve got to be on time. No harm in getting there early, after all. Maybe you can just eat something later. It’ll be fine. _

_ Alright, any new messages? Oh, here’s one from Leon. Wonder what- _

**[Hey Cal,**

**New docs just came in from the Kalos League Admin, j̷us͘t͝ ņeed ͜to ͟ch͢eck͠ them ҉o̸v͏e̶r͟ w/ y̧o̶u b̕efo̷r̷e ̧t̸oday’͡s ͟pr̴ess͝ r͝e͟le̴ase͏.͢ So̴methin͘ģ abo҉u͜t̵ a new case involving the League they want you to comment on after̸ ̡y̸our mat͜ch w̵/ ̛B̷r͝e̕ndan.**

**TT̶̳̂Ŷ̷͚L̶͕͝,**

**L̴̲̻͙̆́̕ȩ̴̟̼̿͗͊̓ọ̵͆͘͠n̵̢̳͇̫͈̎̄**

**P͢͝S̷̴:̸͠ ̷͢҉H̵a͠v̛͠e̕̕ ͏I̸̡̕͞͞ ҉̵̢͝m̵̷̢͞e̶̷̕͞n̷͘͝͠t̶͜͏̧i̷̛͞o̶̡nę̴͘͝͝d̡̧̢ ͢͢I͏̶̨͢ ̵̴̨͢͠o҉w̷͝͏n̸͡҉̨ ͠a̢͝͡ ̧̨̨͢C̢̡͘͢h̡̕҉̨a҉̸̧͡͞r͞i̵̴͘͠z̶̕a̛͏͞r͘͘̕d̢͝ ą̷̢͝n̶̸҉d͏̡͏ ̵̛҉҉̧a͝҉m̛͠҉ ̷͢b̢a̡͞d͏̴ ͝w̸̡͝i̧ţ͞͡͠h̷̴ ͢͏d̸̷͜͝͠i̷̸͜͞r͘͏̢̕e̴̕͞c҉҉̛t̨͞͠҉į͘͘͏̕o̡͏̸͘n̷̸̶̴s̶̸̨̕ ̷̕͟͢t̛҉͠o̵̢̢d͝͡a̛҉̸͜y̷̕͞?̷҉͘]**

“Fuck.”

Out of reflex, Calem dropped his phone, startling Crow. His hands were shaking.

“Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.”

He couldn’t bring himself to read the rest of the memo. There was something in the post-script, but he just… couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to read any further. Knowing Leon, it was probably just a note reminding him to fill out the paperwork required for an international challenge, or to keep up his posture during any interviews. That wasn’t what was important, right now, though. That wasn’t what caught his attention.

The Kalos League.

It had been so long since he’d had to directly deal with that region or anyone in it, let alone the  _ League _ . Hell, the only person he regularly kept contact with anymore was Serena, but even then it was only a video chat every month.

Why was the league suddenly coming back into his life? Why did they want specifically  _ him  _ to make a statement? Did this have something to do with…?

This was too much. There was too much it could be. Too much it probably  _ was _ . Too much it  _ definitely _ was. Everything he’d ever done came welling back up to the surface. Years of League training and certifications, had he missed a step? Skipped a form? What did he do wrong? Was it something to do with his Pokemon Home transfer account? Was there an illegal trade he hadn’t noticed? A modded pokeball? A corrupted data file?

Could it have been…?

If it was, it was only a matter of time before shit hit the fan. Of all things, that would certainly be something worthy of League involvement. It was the biggest fuck-up in Calem’s career as a trainer, and Arceus help him if the league somehow caught wind.

The room was starting to spin. Everything felt like it was too close. He had to get out. Out of the house. Out of the city. Out of the region. Out of everything, away from everyone, far enough away that-No.

Even if it somehow  _ were _ about…  _ that _ , it wouldn’t do any good to start spiraling now. He had to calm himself down. Focus on his breathing.

_ You can’t think like that. You can handle this. Things will be fine. _

It wasn’t a big deal. It was just a couple of documents Leon wanted to call him in for. This had nothing to do with what happened in Kalos. That was almost seven years ago. Nobody even knew about what happened, other than Sycamore, and it was doubtful he’d just go and let something classified like that be leaked to both the Kalos League  _ and _ the  _ Galar League Chairman _ . He wasn’t a fool. He was a professor. If anything, Calem was the fool.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t even a big deal. Calem had no reason to worry about it. After all, nobody got hurt and, as far as he knew, it didn’t really have any significant impact on his League record. Besides, Serena was the Kalos Champion, and she’d know better than to make such a fuss over something so trivial.

He’s Galar’s perfect, pretty Champion. He doesn’t need someone fussing over him for nothing. She knows that.

Everything was going to be fine.

He was going to be fine.

“You’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. You’re going to be-” Upon seeing the odd look Crow was giving him, Calem paused. He hadn’t even realized he’d been speaking aloud.

“Fuck, I need to stop talking to myself.”

After giving Crow a few scratches (as well as the time to finish his meal) and shaking the worry from his mind, Calem took a deep breath, called the Corviknight into his pokeball, collected his things, and finally began the walk to the Hammerlocke Train-Station, making sure to keep an equal number of steps on each foot. For good luck.

He couldn’t afford to be late. Not today. Not when a challenger (from another region’s league, no less) depended on his being on time. Not when he had a press conference immediately after the battle with said challenger, apparently regarding matters important enough for Kalos to call in a foreign league’s Champion.

When Calem arrived at the station, the time was 6:15, exactly.

His train left at 6:30.

That was good.

He was 15 minutes early.

Sure he was stressed, a little tired, and a bit hungrier than he’d have liked, but he was early, and that was what mattered. He just had to make sure he was early. Punctuality was  _ everything _ with the League, and he wasn’t taking any chances, especially if Kalos was getting involved. He couldn’t let down Serena. And besides, it never hurt anyone to be over-prepared, right? He was just being cautious. That was all.

As long as he had the time, he figured he might as well check the news.

Pulling up the app on his phone, he scrolled through the latest articles, clips, and headlines. From what was in his feed, he figured it was a pretty slow news day.

There was something about a breakthrough Hop had made regarding galar-particles and the Gigantamax factor, a puff-piece about a girl in Unova who beat the gym challenge with her long-lost Purrloin (now a Liepard), an exposé on Lance’s most recent fling with a Dragon-type Gym-Leader from Blackthorn City, a clip of one of Calem’s own interviews from the night before and one headline from a small, celebrity-gossip outlet that he would have otherwise ignored, if not for the message he’d gotten from Leon that morning.

‘SCANDAL in the Making? NEW documents from Kalos REVEAL NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DETAILS of alleged LEAGUE CORRUPTION!’

It was from a cheap magazine that often made similarly outrageous claims regarding high-ranking trainers and their personal lives, but he had a sinking feeling it had something to do with the case Leon had messaged him over. Just to be sure, he’d skim over the article for a minute. It was probably just tabloid trash, but, on the off chance it  _ was _ pertinent to the memo, it was better to know. 

Besides, it might help prepare him for that day’s press conference.

And really, what was the harm in being prepared?

**Author's Note:**

> This shit's about to get DARK.
> 
> Hope you're ready.
> 
> :)


End file.
